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tv   Americas Newsroom  FOX News  April 18, 2013 6:00am-8:00am PDT

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>> steve: we thank you for joining us today on this special episode of "fox & friends." tomorrow the very latest from west, texas and boston and the risin. >> gretchen: hope you have a good day and continue to watch fox throughout the day. con. bill: morning everyone, another day here in boston. breaking developments in the hunt for those responsible at the terror at the boston marathon. police sources saying investigators zeroing in on video footage from a lord & taylor store security camera shown here in the spot camera. that could be the big break they're looking for. boston city council president stephen murphy on that. >> the department stores down on boylston street submitted video system which has confirmed that a suspect is seen dropping a bag near the point of the second explosion and heading off.
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bill: as the fbi hunts for the man in the surveillance video agents are pouring over thousands of high resolution clear as day images like you see here shot by a spectator. the series of photos showing a man burned in shredded clothing fleeing from the scene, doing the exact opposite of other bystanders bending over on the ground and appearing stunned and in shock as you can imagine. another witness speaks to the photos he turned over to the fbi. >> i talked with the fbi last night. gave them all my pictures and my video. i think we're the only ones with that angle on the crowd scene before. with. >>. bill: well, good morning again i'm bill hemmer live in "america's newsroom." there is a lot to the get through throughout the morning here. we're near copley square behind me on boylston street. welcome back to "america's newsroom.". good morning, patti ann. >> i'm here at fox news
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headquarters in for martha maccallum. we have to stress no arrests have been made. we're still waiting for the fbi to hold its news conference. one was canceled of course amid a flurry of reports that an arrest had been made. those reports were shot down. massachusetts governor deval patrick speaking on the resilience of the boston community. >> these are times all kinds of forces sometimes conspire to make people start think of categories of people in sometimes uncharitable ways. this community will recover and will heal if we turn to each other rather than on even other bill: homeland security chief janet napolitano is set to testify this hour. level of security across the country. president obama and first lady, michelle obama on the
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way to boston moments ago departing the white house on the south lawn. they're set to the attend an interfaith service of the bombing victims at the cathedral of the holy cross a mile from our location on boylston street. while the nation will pause to remember. senator john mccain is saying that the events in boston may provide a valuable lesson. >> that is certainly a wake-up call. every time there is an act like this americans obviously lead to more security to prevent another catastrophic event. and then we have a tendency, and it is understandable, to become a little bit complacent. but i think it is a cautionary lesson here we really can't let our guard down. bill: after at crazy day yesterday and information ping-ponging throughout the streets of boston what we can tell you today that the fbi is considering releasing what we call, still images captured images from surveillance video cameras a
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quarter mile down the road here at the finish line from around 2:0, 2:45, 2 len 50 in the afternoon on monday. when the press conference happens, if it happens, nothing scheduled now. but if it happens we'll bring it to you live here on the fox news channel. the american public appairs to share a sense of growing confidence that investigators in boston will get to the bottom of this. that the people behind the attack will be caught. our "fox news" polling overwhelming number of people believe the feds will catch those responsible. it is just a matter of time. if you talk to the people here in boston it is a question of time but those responsible will be found. they take this very personally as we noted throughout our coverage throughout the week. a company executive is helping authorities after learning one of his products
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was using in the bombings. he recognized the nickel hydrate battery you see in the photo here and he took action. >> once i saw the picture on the page, contacted the boston police department as well as the fbi. bill: wow! he says the battery most often used by hobbyists is in remote-controlled cars, he is appalled the product was used in such a horrible and senseless way. more news from boston and breaking details on what the fbi could soon release. so we're watching all of that at this hour. patti ann: and meanwhile a fox news alert. federal investigators heading to the central texas to investigate a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant. the blast shook the ground with the strength of a small earthquake. it damaged an untold number of nearby homes. police believe several people may be dead and dozens more are hurt. among those who are missing, volunteer firefighters who
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responded to the initial call of a fire at the plant just before the explosion. let's listen as authorities call for every available person to help. >> we need everyone we can get. a bomb went off inside here. it is pretty bad. we have a lot firemen down. >> firefighters down. there are firefighters down. >> the rest home has been severely damaged. we have many people down. please, please respond. >> getting you everybody i can. you have deputies. you have fire and you have ems. i'm sending everybody i got. patti ann: this explosion could be felt at least 45 miles away. so imagine what it felt like blocks away at the nearby retirement home and apartment complex. casey stiegel is live in the city of west, texas. casey you've been on the story all morning with us. this is being characterized as a search-and-rescue effort still to find people
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trapped? >> reporter: patti ann, good morning to you, search-and-rescue, that is the operative phrase that is being bounced around a lot with the local authorities on the ground here because they say, there is still definitely a possibility that there may be survivors trapped under the rubble. it's been a chilly night here. we have a severe thunderstorm that has's been moving in. they say their main mission as of right now is to search for life. so they are going door-to-door to door in this giant swath of this neighborhood in downtown west, texas. not geographically west, but the community, the town of west, texas, about 20 miles north of waco and they're going door-to-door searching for people who may be alive and may need help. before i show you video i want you to get a sense for all the media gathered right here in this spot. we are being really far back from the actual incident itself because they say it is still dangerous they say.
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all the media is camped out here. media from all over has converged on the spot to record and document this giant story. just beyond the cameras a podium where they will be holding a news conference we've just been told seconds before we went on the air in about ten minutes. let's go ahead and show you some of the dramatic pictures that have been coming out here over the last several hours and let's run down some of the information for you. this started as a fire at the fertilizer plant here in downtown west and firefighters responded to it. they tried putting that blaze out and it got close to some ammonia tanks, a very dangerous and volatile chemical. so they started to order evacuations. we don't know how many people made it out before the explosion. but in the matter of a blink of an eye an explosion that rocked people that could have an about felt some 80 miles away in south dallas, if you can believe that. it is still an extremely
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fluid scenario. listen to what the mayor told us a short time ago. >> i do not have an exact number of casualties at this time. our hurt, we took over 160 to waco hospital, area hospitals, for treatment. >> reporter: the injuries range really from broken bones to scrapes, cuts and bruises from flying glass to bronchial problems, respiratory problems for people that were breathing some of the toxic fumes this fire was giving off and it irritated their lungs and they also went to the emergency room, patti ann. patti ann: a lot of those inhalation injuries. casey, this west fertilizer plant what do we know about it? >> reporter: well it is pretty small according to the research our brain room in new york was able to dig up. only 20 employees or so. the facility itself is 1500
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square feet. as we said it did sell ammonia it local farmers. this is farming community of only 2800 people or some as far as previous incidents we can tell you that the company has been cited in the past by the texas commission for environmental quality back in the june 2006 for failing to of course taken or qualify for a permit. some residents living nearby reported smelling strong amonia in the air. investigators came out to take a look. the company was cited but other than that that no real problems to speak of, patti ann. patti ann: we'll have a lengthy investigation what exactly caused this. thank you so much, casey, joinie from west, texas. we're getting our hands on some dramatic video that captured the moment the explosion happened. you can hear the sheer force of the blast and a terrified child reacting. >> yeah.
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[explosion] >> are you okay? >> i can't hear. bless get out of here. please get out of here. please get out of here. oh, my god. patti ann: you can hear the child begging the dad to leave saying they can't hear anything. a few miles down the road folks were racing to help their neighbors. >> actually we were at the house and we felt it rock. we were about four miles away. we saw that or felt that, i went running outside, looked up, saw the cloud of smoke, told everybody we got to go. we went up over to the retirement home. when we got to the retirement home it was completely chaotic. patti ann: he found people covered in sheetrock, ceilings down. they evacuated people as quickly as possible. firefighters at the scene meanwhile are very concerned about the plant's tank of ammonia. this chemical can be extremely dangerous.
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the term an high dangerous, means without water. it can cause dehydration and severe burns if combined with water in the body. breathing difficulty, irritation ever the eyes and nose and throat and burns. victims require treatment with large quantities of water for at least 15 minutes. bill a lot more still to come. just huge stories here today. bill: certainly is. still waiting to hear word on the firefighters too. we'll get back to casey stiegel and that story out of tex cast texas. to you to our viewers we're juggling a lot of stories. the fbi in a moment. and we're learning that surveillance videos playing a critical role in the investigation. how it could lead to an arrest in boston. >> we saw the first bomb go off. people, sorry, in the streets
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bill: breaking news now on the fox news channel. fox news reporting now a second law enforcement official saying that the fbi is in fact talking about whether or not to release images from video of one or possibly two suspects in the boston bombings. at the moment this is what we can report. there is a vocal contingency within the fbi discussing, sometimes debating or even possibly arguing against releasing such photos, because as the official puts it, there is still a lot of groundwork done, quote, under the radar. continuing with the report, officials say in one video you can quote, pretty clearly see the man's face and it is rather compelling stuff. we're getting that information with us here in boston this morning. there is no briefing scheduled. it was on yesterday. it was off.
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it was on again. it was off again. late last night boston police tweeted on their twitter feed there would be a statement from the fbi at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. ten minutes later, the boston police department said, that statement has now been canceled. clearly there is internal debate. jim walsh is a international security analyst. he calls boston home and, jim, good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: just the sense of debate that is quite clear what you put out and what you don't, what do you believe about that? >> i think there are a couple of considerations law enforcement is looking at. you don't want to put out a photo if in some way that tells the culprit or suspect something that enables them, makes it more difficult for them to find. you don't want to tip them off if you don't have to. particularly with the fbi some sense of the richard jewell episode that still hangs over their heads. just because you have a suspect that doesn't mean
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they're guilty. by releasing the photo you increase the pressure, the public will look for the person. think i they want to get their you can it is in a row before they go public with it. we're seeing something we have never seen before, bill as i went on facebook, crowd sourcing which can be a powerful in a positive way and in a negative way. bill: what is crowd sourcing? >> going to the public and asking for information. it is more than that. in the old days they used to have the television show "america's most wanted" and they show photos. we have some experience. there are individual citizens analyzing video and posting things on facebook. sort of being amateur investigators. and i think people ought to show some restraint with that. bill: easier said than done, you're working in private sometimes on a computer. but i guess the bigger point to be made here, that is the world we live in right now, jim. >> absolutely. bill: how do we deal with that, handle and manage that? from a law enforcement standpoint, how do you do it? >> they will hold onto
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information as long as they can. they will release it when there is nothing more to be done. we have to underline to the public again and again, we should allow professionals to do the work here. the public role is providing information. it is law enforcement job to take the information to analyze it and go forward, not the public's job. bill: even if you're able to identify a person you think needs to be questioned or talked to, not even label ad suspect, you know that guy doesn't look quite right to me, let's go find out who he is, how do you find out he who he is? she will try ainge you late. there is data from the cell phone tower. that is what has been reported. there may be information left at fragments on the scene, pro the pressure cooker, the nylon bag, a fingerprint, face recognition software. they brought in people i heard this morning that work in the federal part on this work with child pornography,
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used to using facial recognition software to narrow it down. they will use all pieces of technology to try to narrow it down. bill: do you feel safe to say that the technology has made it easier or in ways has it complicated investigations like this? >> i think the more information is the better. you always have this management problem. if you get three terabytes of information that is lot a manage. i'm sure law enforcement loves to have this in the world of camera phones, the data available to try to track someone is a huge advantage. bill: what did you make of the rather overt public appeal for information? >> i think we've seen pretty dramatic developments over the last 24 hours. on the first day they asked for videos and pictures. that's to be expected. yesterday, and of course now i'm losing track, seems if this was an appeal we're running out of clues here and we want the public's help. within 24 hours of that
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first announcement or that announcement sort of opening it up i think we had a big break yesterday. bill: i think the hunch is to conclude what you just referred to. they're perhaps fishing. frankly we don't know that. >> we don't. bill: there could be active searches throughout the boston area right now and we don't know of it. >> i'm sure. i take some solace of the fact that the president is coming here today. bill: how come? >> because i don't think they would allow the president of united states to come to boston if they thought there was a small chance that the person was at large and could pose a danger to the president. bill: jim wall much, thank you for welcoming us to your town. terrific people here. jim walsh in boston. patti ann: and we have an update right now on the city of west, texas, where there was of course a deadly fertilizer plant overnight. we will havest details in three minutes from the a press conference going on.
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patti ann: taking you back now to our other top story of the day, a massive deadly explosion of the fertilizer plant in the city of west, texas. we're hearing from sergeant patrick swanson in the city of. this is 20 miles north of waco. let's listen. >> this is a volunteer fire department. meaning that they probably have a very large contingent of people willing to risk their lives for their neighbors and their community at a phone call. that's what they were doing last night when this occurred. i don't know how many initially responded. i do know that there were numerous firefighters there. we have accounted for many but there are some that are not accounted for. i think that kind of brings me up to speed that i know
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again, i know the information is little limited. short of assuring you they are there on the ground there, they are calling a search-and-rescue mode. that is good news to me. meaning that they're probably still getting to injured people. they have not gotten to a int of no return where they don't think anybody is still alive. i will answer questions but please with me as i call on you to as i see hands. i will get to as many of you as i can. everybody kind of listen so we don't repeat questions, fair enough? >> you did mention earlier it is believed that the search-and-rescue teams have pulled some survivors? i just want to make sure i was clear on that? they have pulled some survivors or can you say? >> i don't know that again. i know their purpose is to go find people that are injured.
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i don't have a number how many they rescued or how many potential body they may have found. those numbers are not being released to me, other than to tell you i know they're going house to house doing probably initially a very quick search, cursory search, let's get in quick. go through. now they may start going back at some point doing a little more methodical search. a slow ground search. being more aware to looking at close etc. in homes. look under beds. under furniture, things along that line. yes, sir? >> [inaudible]. >> no word yet on the cause of the fire. i will tell you atf is here, the state fire march shalgs are here. i had a couple questions. why isn't county so working the body part of it and atf and state fire are working the other part? the reason that is occurring, that will absolutely allow the fire marshal, state fire
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marshals and atf to focus on a specific area. that focus will be the fertilizer plant to determine the cause of the fire and the cause of the explosion and the sheriff's department will be working the body as they find as hours and days go on. patti ann: that was sergeant patrick swanton giving an update on the search-and-rescue effort in the deadly fertilizer explosion in the city of west, texas, confirming there are still firefighters missing. those firefighters responded to the call of a fire at that plant and they were in that plant when the subsequent blast occurred and they are unaccounted for. but again also looking for people who might be trapped in nearby buildings. there was a short evacuation period. many people are believed have not made it out during that period. and they are looking for some of those now.> investigatoe pouring through surveillance videos for clues to the
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boston marathon bombings. reaction from the attorney general on 9/11. john ashcroft joining us. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --
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attacks on monday in the event the perpetrators are trying to escape by way of the airport or by possibly surrounding the roads in boston as well. a bit more information what she is talking about in a moment. when there are more headlines from that hearing we'll bring them to you. speculation growing that the most successful terror attack on american soil going back to 9/11 could again change the way we live. here is what senator joe manchin out of west virginia had to say about that with my colleague bret baier. >> i recall when i had to go through my first airplane screening. i'm thinking, this is awful! what they're doing, they're checking me like i'm a criminal and, really bothered me. and then as i saw the amount of, then being able to protect me as citizen of this freight country, it became accepted norm. >> so you think the line shifts? >> i think it shifts basically we're going to expect to see the type of surveillance, scrutiny, the
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dogs, the police presence at public gathers, yes. i do. bill: this is a national debate that begins anew now. john ashcroft was the attorney general under president george w. bush. ceo of the ashcroft group and with me from his home state. sir, thank you for your time today. i'm curious for you to reflect, you were there in the beginning days 12 years ago. how far have we come? or how far do we still need to go? >> well, first of all, we have come a long way. with the coordinated efforts, things were pretty fragmented until 9/11 gal -- galvanized us and the creation of the department of homeland security. the proliferation of joint terrorism task forces. the whole idea of integrating our efforts. there's long way to go but we have come a long way. i think we're seeing that in the way in which the response is being made to boston. i think the individuals on the ground sifting through
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of course mountains of evidence, the kind of evidence we have now is so different than it was then because so much more is photographed. and of course a lot of people would be taking pictures at the finish line of friends and relatives who were crossing or running in the race. so one of the things is sifting through the evidence. but, we have come a long way and i really believe the investigators are doing their job and doing it well. bill: yeah. is it the bomb residue that we've been reporting for the past two days? is it the photographic images? is one more important than the other? or does it all come together in an investigation that is still this young, sir? >> well, it is a young investigation and, yes, there are a variety of components and the puzzle doesn't make sense sometimes until the last pieces are put together but there is a great technology in identifying from the residue
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that's on fragments and on part of the shrapnel and sometimes found in the bodies of the victims that can help us identify how things happened and what, what the circumstances were. and the key in all of this is public safety, preventing the next attack. it's securing our citizenship. that is one of the reasons there is debate over what should be released and what shouldn't be released. this is not a circumstance where the individuals perpetrating this event sought to extinguish themselves in the commission of the crime. they sought to escape. they may be escaping to accomplices and others who were involved with them. we have to make strategic questions how much information we release. i believe that the fbi is wrestling with those kinds of decisions now. bill: yeah. when you pushed for the patriot act in the early part of the last decade,
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what specific measures do you think were included that that law that are still assisting and aiding investigators today? >> well, in particular the ability to develop intelligence about the potential of attacks that would take place, and to develop evidence about attacks that had taken place. as it relates specifically to foreign powers and to agents of foreign powers, the so-called foreign intelligence surveillance act, and its ability to have modern surveillance techniques was very important there. they're identifying -- >> specifically, what did that do? >> well, for instance, in terms of tracing phone calls or surveilling phone calls, of people who were foreign powers or, or associated with foreign powers, there is reasonable cause to believe that they were involved with foreign powers,
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that kind of surveillance was escalated substantially. and that is a much improved circumstance. modifications of the law in its, you know it has been reenact ad couple times since its initial enactment included abilities for us to deal with lone wolf individuals, not just conspiracies so that we have a better capacity than we had by far before 9/11. bill: i see. one more question here, sir. and you know the public wants answer. the media is scrambling about throughout this town, throughout the country looking for answers basically. what do you urge when it comes to saying, be patient, be cautious. we need to find the right answers and and not just simply guess as to who's responsible? what is your view on that? >> well it is very important to find the right answers because if we give the wrong answers or erroneous information frankly like was the case yesterday, we had
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so much erroneous information provided, that undermines public confidence and when public confidence is undermined it impairs the ability of the public to participate in the solution of these situations. if you think about the terrorist events that have been disrupted and solutions that we found, whether it is the shoe-bomber, christmas day bomber, the times square bomber in recent years, the public has been very aggressively involved and at the forefront in helping with these solutions and it is important when we deal with the public we give them sound information that does not contain error because error undermines trust. bill: john ashcroft, excellent point at the end there. we really appreciate your feedback and your insight today and your counterpart eric holder is briefing next hour. we'll be listening for headlines from him as well. former attorney general john ashcraft. thank you for being with us today. >> my pleasure. bill: we'll talk to former massachusetts senator scott
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brown. he shares with us the impact of the boston community and its strength and its resiliency. so senator brown is my guest here in a moment. patti ann: meanwhile texas governor rick perry will be talking about that deadly explosion south of dallas in just a few hours. one witness saying it was like a nuclear bomb went off. more than 160 people have been taken to area hospitals. we have this from sergeant patrick swanton from waco just moments ago. >> they are continuing their search-and-rescue efforts. they have not changed anything that they have been doing because of weather, because of rain, because it got cold. they're continuing to search for survivors or injured people to make sure we get them the medical help if they are still there. patti ann: and my next guest represents the district. he is republican congressman bill flores. congressman, thank you for joining us. i'm sorry it is a very difficult day i know.
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>> it's a tough day in our community, good morning, patti ann. patti ann: it started with a fire at this fertilizer plant and firefighters and at least one officer responded to that scene and tried to put out that fire. meanwhile warning people in the area to evacuate, recognizing the possibility of an explosion and indeed that is what happened. we're not hearing word of these firefighters at this point. do you have any update how many people were in that plant at that time the of the explosion? >> we have some ideas of the number wes that were in the plant but our local officials have asked us to let them be the primary source of news and i wish i could share it with you but i'm honoring the request of local officials on the scene. patti ann: this explosion absolutely devastated an eight-block radius around it. >> that's right. patti ann: of peoples windows and doors being blown out, debris and shrapnel flying in addition to the fact some toxic fumes
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were in the air. what is it like there now? is there still that chemical cent in the air? >> well, from what i understand because the rain we're getting an conditions on the ground there is not much in the way of toxic chemical releases at this point. so we have first-responders that are on the scene and they're starting their search-and-rescue operations as well. those are ongoing. i think the local officials have been pretty good in giving full pictures as to what, what the conditions are and what they are doing. patti ann: yeah. >> what i would like to report is, that we have alerted fema. we also, i just got of the phone with positive perry. if he issues a call to fema, fema will be ready to respond. patti ann: well, that's good to hear. meantime as you mentioned the search-and-rescue continues. they tried their best to evacuate people, first of all before the explosion even happened but certainly immediately afterwards. getting almost 200 people to
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local hospitals for treatment. but they are still looking. have you heard any word of anyone within the past few hours being rescued from a basement or from under debris in their home, that kind of a thing? >> no, ma'am. i don't have any first-hand knowledge of that at this point. i don't. patti ann: all right. well, we appreciate you joining us, congressman flores. best of luck to you. we'll keep everyone up to diet on the story as it unfolds. >> thank you. the terrorist attack in boston and this tragedy remind us how frail human life is and our viewers need to remember to pray for these kmumts. patti ann: absolutely. it has been a difficult week for sure. thank you again, congressman. >> thank you. patti ann: and we'll be right back.
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bill: no arrests yet but the fbi saying they're making progress in their investigation here in the boston terror attacks. with me is a who knows this community all too well, former massachusetts senator
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scott brown, now a fox news contributor among many other things with me here in boston. good morning to you. i don't know what you're hearing from family and represented these people. >> yeah. bill: what are they seeing, what are they saying? >> they're feeling encouraged especially after what you're hearing. fbi in boston and police and law enforcement are putting together all the information as you know. it is so voluminous. many folks knew because of all, that was the finish line and there is incredible amount of information just gathering it and sorting it but going around people are kind of on edge. they're thankful everybody is here working so hard. thankful the president is coming in. it is a show of solidarity. you see when coming through the common, you see the military police and other law enforcement all around, it is a little disconcerting. bill: it is a different town. >> yeah. bill: it is obvious that it is different. the boston police department, the fire department, responded in force on monday. how did they do? >> i expected nothing less.
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i spoke to commissioner davis the day before yesterday. in contact with him periodically, most recently as of today. i'm encouraged by everything that they're doing. i haven't, certainly as a member of homeland security, one of the ranking members and having the ability to communicate on a regular basis with those folks i would expect nothing less. they're doing a great job under the circumstances. bill: when you think about and reflect on your time in washington the amount of exposure you had to information frankly the public does not have and we do not have, what is your level of confidence how they solve this case? >> house is getting briefed now. the intelligence committees got briefed a couple days ago. i think everything is coming together as it should. i think people need to be patient. we need to let folks do their job with the technology and multimedia and everything we're having right now, all the social media, sources, people, want information right away. this will take some time. if they do it too early and they chase, maybe is it one, is it two, maybe there's a
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whole network. if you let them know you're on to them will it potentially blow it? i think they're doing right thing giving as much information as they feel comfortable a to do. bill: there is one thing going underground. people responsible may be tipped off and could be the fact right now. the race next year could be bigger than ever. i'm wondering about it. is this one of the markers in american history that changes the way we live? >> think you will see a amazing turnout of support. it will be unlike you ever seen. look at the bruins game, everybody, 17, 5, strong, singing our nation's anthem. that is the type of people we have here in massachusetts and especially bruins fans. bill: we'll show that in a moment to our viewers. back to the question, do you think this is a point that changes the way we live? >> of course, of course. every time you're in subway and at a large sporting event. people have to be diligent
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and observeant you have to speak up and. you have cowards out here trying to kill us, trying to change our way of life, and we need to fight back. bill: senator, thank you. now a fox news contributor. great to have you with us for a story like this. senator scott brown here in his home state and the town of boston. we want to take a look at the service in the holy cathedral. the president will be there in moments. we'll see president obama and the first lady. we also expect former governor mitt romney to be in attendance in that speech and that ceremony gets underway here in downtown boston. meantime boston is strong. it was on full display when the city's bruins got back on the ice last night. [crowd singing]
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>> this is the fairmont coply plaza, a well-known hotel and building in downtown boston. many marathon runners would eat here and get something to drink. many stayed here the night of the marathon. a built of geography in the area. this is the "boston public" library. behind me then is a coply square which is big open public space in downtown boston, boston's back bay. you see the medical tent off to the left. this is all set up for the conclusion of the marathon where many of the runners were milled about to hook up
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with family members and friends. what has happened since then is, the national guard from the commonwealth of massachusetts. they rolled in here late on month afternoon. they spent the night monday, tuesday and again last night. they are largely responsible for all the security you see throughout the area here. now the fbi briefed twice on tuesday a total of zero on wednesday. but when those briefings occur it happens inside this hotel. the westin, coply square. still a healthy perimeter set up and established around that part of boston. you can not access it and for very good reason. when the fbi announces its news conference we'll let you know. of course we'll bring that to you live here in boston. meantime we're awaiting the president and first lady michelle obama. they are set to arrive in boston where they will attend an interfaith service at the cathedral of the holy cross. there is logan international. that is where the president will land.
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that is mile, several miles from where we are. copley square is behind me which is the piece of video we showed you a moment ago. a nation remembers boston today and it should be quite an emotional day as that ceremony gets underway, now on the schedule for 11:00 a.m. eastern time. full coverage here throughout "america's newsroom" on that. back to patti ann now in new york. patti ann: bill, meanwhile the fires are still smoldering in texas. authorities saying the site of that massive plant explosion in the city of west is still too hot to investigate. fires there still burning. the latest on the ongoing investigation coming up. >> i will confirm there have been fatalities. i think we will see those fatalities increase as we get towards the morning. numerous injured have been moved from the scenes to the hospitals. ♪
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bill: fox news alert from the streets of boylston in
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new developmentsoston. by the hour as we await an update from the fbi. here is what we know so far. authorities are still trying to identify the suspects seen in images while the faces are clear, the fbi reporting progress this morning to say there is still a lot of groundwork to do. now we're still waiting to hear from the fbi about all this. they have not provided any updates since late tuesday afternoon and are not saying when the next briefing will be. at least 72 victims are still hospitalized. 14 remain in critical condition this morning, as we start a new hour and new day here in "america's newsroom." i'm bill hemmer live in boston. with me today, patti ann browne in new york. welcome, patti ann. patti ann: good morning again, bill. secretary janet napolitano speaking on the hill saying they're still asking for the public's help on this.
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>> the investigation is proceeding apiece pace. this is not an "ncis" episode. sometimes you have to properly put the chain together to identify the perpetrators. everyone is committed to seeing that is done in the right way. bill: the country's top intelligence officers are on the hill testifying in two separate hearings. intelligence chief james clapper, homeland security secretary janet napolitano as you just heard. secretary napolitano was questioned a short time ago about the investigation and have a listen here. all right. we heard from her in a moment. we'll get more headlines from secretary napolitano but bill gavin now is the former chief executive of the fbi in new york, miami and denver. vice president of guardsmark security services, that's a global security services firm. good morning to you.
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we're in your hometown. normally we only talk about this stuff by way of satellite but you have a massive amount of experience when it comes to what the fbi is doing now. >> right. bill: how are they doing now in trying to solve this? >> they're doing a great job, bill. the bottom line is it's not just the fbi, it's the talents of all the agencies, local, federal and the fbi and what they're doing right now based on the cooperation with the joint terrorism task forces they are taking all the pieces of this puzzle and trying to reassemble it to see what the picture really was, and first of all, what kind of an explosive it was. that still hasn't been determined yet. while working on the nature of the explosive how it was put down they're working on photographs they have taken all the way from the finish line and start peeling it back. so they take a collage of these photographs and they try to look at what happened, who was in the picture at the finish line. then you move back 25 yards, who was there. who was there?
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move backs 50 yards. who was there? did they person they see now at 50 yards back have a backpack and now he doesn't? that is very important piece of information and the film is very important. bill: how has the photography changed the game in an investigation like this. >> bill, it is leaps and bounds, light years away from it what it used to be. old days you go into a bank robbery they have bank robbery pictures you couldn't tell what was on the film, it was all blurry. with the digital cameras, it is terrific. they will compare the time frames of all the pictures the public submitted and look what progress this individual took to get to the finish line. bill: even if you have a suspect and you have, sorry, if you have a person of interest, rather, say you know what? we want to talk to that person. they're carrying something we consider a little suspicious and we want to find them, how do you find them? >> it is a very difficult set of circumstances. what you really do you have to get those pictures out to the public eventually, to
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see if somebody recognizes them. bill: that has not happened just yet and what does that mean then? >> well it could mean a couple of things, why the bureau hasn't made any, law enforcement made any press release yet in a recent past. it could be that they don't have a lot to tell or they have a lot to tell that they don't want to get out. they might be on the, on the cusp of identifying this individual and they want to get that done before they say anything. bill: within the fbi itself are there debates, are there discussions about how you proceed and? and i guess how strong do you make your case to say, look, you know, if we put this out there, we could sacrifice a, b and c? but if we don't put it out there, we may be stuck in the ground here for a little bit? >> you're absolutely right. the fbi like any other organization has a push-me-pull-you effect. people go with one opinion and people that go with another. right now that goes on. but i think probably the
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lack of any press release to date has to do with them getting pretty close to where they need to be. bill: you believe so? >> i do. bill: that is your hunch? >> that is my hunch. bill: as you watch this from afar you wonder and you hope that is the case. >> i certainly do hope that's the case and i think what they have to do is take all of this, this event was a p you have to look what is going to happen in new york on may 5th. they have the five borough bicycle run, 33,000 people on bicycles starting down lower manhattan. new york city police will have nightmare. bill: to that point senator brown was with us 20 minutes ago. you know him well. >> i do. bill: does this change the way we live? >> it sure has changed the way we live but you know what? it made people more aware and made people buy into the process. i remember years in new york, you walk down the street, it is not my job and i don't want to have anything to do with it. now people in new york see
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something they say something. that is great motto. the other thing with everybody becoming involved there are additional 8 million people of new york, 8 million pairs of eyes to help the 35,000 members of the police department. bill: excellent point. bill gavin, nice to see you in person in your town of boston. thank you very much. >> thank you. bill: we continue to track the progress of some of these victims. many are still hospitalized. we got an update from the doctors at boston medical center. they're happy with the progress of the patients but there are more surgeries ahead. one of the trauma specialists saying it reminds him of the time when he served in iraq. >> i had the opportunity to be in iraq a few years ago. i was a chief nurse of a combat support hospital. i was there for 12 months and, actually this was disturbingly similar to our experiences with improvised explosive devices and treating large numbers of traumatized individuals. bill: well, 16 patients remain at boston medical
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center as of this morning. also a vigil held last night for one of the victims of one of the attacks. lu, a boston university graduate student. here we see some of her classmates gathering, writing condolences in mandarin and english. she was at the finish line of the race when two bombs went off. some say they still can not believe she is gone. >> i was shocked as i heard the update. we were all searching and all had our hope on. >> i think her friends were understandably very distraught. there are no words to describe this tragedy. bill: inhe had do. we're told there is another memorial scheduled for later tonight on campus a lot of these vige ills we're told have been impromptu throughout the entire boston community. more from boston in a moment including a forensic chemist and former crime scene
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analyst from the massachusetts state police about the investigation and what has been considered a pressure cooker device that could have been used in the attacks on monday afternoon. an update on that coming up. patti ann: another breaking story this morning. we're learning more about the suspect arrested in connection with the poison letters sent to president obama and mississippi senator roger wicker. john roberts is live for us right now in oxford, mississippi, with the latest for us. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning to you, patti ann. quite a story to tell, according to people i talked to who know kevin curtis, the man who was arrested yesterday afternoon in hose home in corinth, mississippi, on the border with tennessee, this guy had a lot going on. he was a part-time musician, an elvis impersonator weaving strong conspiracy theories about trafficking in body parts by one of the biggest medical institutions in mississippi. a while ago i got off with an attorney who used to represent him he clearly, according to this attorney
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that kevin curtis has some serious mental issues. he was doing contract cleaning work for north mississippi medical center. he claims one day he happened to cross arefrigerator looking for a drink of water that was full of body parts. when he tried to tell people about it, he was fired by the medical institution, banned from its campus. he then tried to tell other people about it. courting to a reporter i spoke with this morning who did stories on him back then, when he was banned from the campus that is when things began unravel for kevin curtis. he started sending off letters to various politicians including senator wicker. this was early 2,000s, along with former mississippi senators trent lott and thad cochran. he never heard back from them. this appears to be lingering issue, patty. if you look at content of letters sent to senator wicker and president obama, they read, quote, to see a wrong and not expose it to become a silent parter to its continuance. very possible he was
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refering to alleged trafficking in body parts. a couple questions remain unclear this morning. that is, when would a letter-writing campaign allegely become potentially deadly with inclusion of ricin in those letters and patti ann, where would he have gotten his hands on that ricin? he will probably appear in federal court here in oxford, mississippi this afternoon. patti ann: that is quite a big leap to take from writing e-mails and lersz to something potentially deadly. what exactly is going on at his house right now, john? >> reporter: the fbi is still investigating his case as you imagine. they have the area around his house in corinth, mississippi, all blocked off. they're treating it as potential pie owe hazard as they look for more evidence and the possible source of that ricin. it is fairly easy to make low-grade ricin by grinding up castor beans. according to the fbi this was fairly rudimentary form of ricin. it was not weaponized form but could be potentially deadly as people found out with tragedy in the past,
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patti ann. patti ann: john roberts live in mississippi. thank you. well, president obama is in boston this morning to honor the victims of the marathon bombing as investigators consider releasing photos of possible suspects in the case. bret baier joins us next with more on that. we're learning more about the bombs used in at that time tax. we'll ask a former crime scene analyst what these devices can tell us. >> we're going to get the victims out. we're then going to conduct a sweep with dod. make sure there are no other devices on the street. then we need to get people out of the restaurants and bars. we need somebody on social media okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --
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[ female announcer ] from more efficient payments. ♪ to more efficient pick-ups. ♪ wireless is limitless. ♪ from tracking the bus. ♪ to tracking field conditions. ♪ wireless is limitless. to. bill: back here live in boston, logan international airport, moments ago air force one touching down. the president arriving here in boston with first lady michelle obama. as he arrives he will make his way to the cathedral of the holy cross where a
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service is set to get underway about 50 minutes from now. also as the president arrives, there is a statement that has been put out on this breaking news that this texas deadly plant explosion. here is part of the quote that came out from the white house a moment ago. today our prayers go out to the people of west texas in the aftermath of last night's deadly explosion. i want to thank the first-responders who worked tire lesly through the night to contain and treat the wounded. he goes on to talk about a tight-knit community that has been rocked to its core and rocked to its foundation. we're juggling both of these stories right now. more from texas we get more information and certainly more from boston with the president arriving here only moments ago. back to new york with patti ann who has a bit more on this right now. patti ann: as you mentioned president obama is in boston for that memorial service in honor of the three people killed and 176 up injured in the marathon attack. he may also meet with some of the injured an first-responders. all of this as the fbi is
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working frantically to zero in on potential persons of interest in this case and bret baier is the anchor of "special report" and he joins us now with the latest. hi, bret. what can you tell us so far about the federal response? >> well the federal response, obviously they're trying to get to the bottom of all of this video, all of these pictures and you heard the department of homeland security secretary up on the hill today saying this isn't a tv episode. it takes time. i will tell you just some perspective here as we look at air force landing there in boston that, that it is interesting that the fbi canceled those press briefings yesterday and then today and it's not just boston. talking to lawmakers here there are certain lawmakers on certain committees that get briefed about the specific tell against and the -- intelligence and the specific details by the nctc, the national
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counterterrorism center. those briefings were abruptly canceled late yesterday afternoon as well. so there was, it was canceled across the board. they're holding things close to the vest. that is a bit inside baseball but you can see they're trying to get to the bottom of it and hopefully we'll hear where a lot of this investigation is going now. patti ann, i just want to say this interfaith service starts at 11. the president likely speaks at 11:45. it is called healing our city at the cathedral of the holy cost. you know, this is this is the fourth time the president has done these types of services maybe more. obviously most recently in newtown. but you had tucson, aurora, fort hood. he will offer, reflection and condolences to the family. we'll hear from cardinal sean o'malley, with the archdiocese of boston.
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and as you look there, the service gets ready, it will be, obviously an emotional event. the president as consoler in chief has done this many times and credited with comforting a number of victims families in these situations. patti ann: yeah, it is quite sad to look back how many times he has been in this position so far and the impact on the american psyche is likely to last for some time. he also gave a brief statement concerning the fertilizer plant explosion in texas. do we expect anymore from him on that, or is the focus very clearly on boston at this point? >> probably boston solely at this event. we may hear from him in between, either before or after about the fertilizer plant and obviously it's a big, big issue today as that still search-and-rescue
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which may become search and recovery at some point continues just outside of waco, texas. an unbelievable scene out there. patti ann: yeah, incredible. and they are calling it a crime scene but at this point they are saying there is no actual evidence that this is anything more than an industrial accident. obviously we're continuing to follow that. but back to the fbi investigation into the marathon bombings and the fact that you mentioned several press conferences canceled the question comes up is it because they didn't know as much as they thought but the fact they know quite a bit and but possibly want to hold it back and make sure they get all their ducks in a row? >> i don't think we can speculate. i think we have to just go at what we know and what we know is that that they are looking at pictures. they are looking at video. we have been reporting facts from sources and we expect at some time that the fbi
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will come forward with something that they have persons of interest. how far they're gng to go and whether they release pictures or video today within hours, we don't know as of yet. but the motivation for the cancellation, i don't know, but i wanted to give you the perspective that it's not just boston. it is also lawmakers that are really usually in the know inside the fbi details also had canceled briefings as well. patti ann: interesting. bret baier, thanks so much for keeping us up-to-date. i know we'll be coming back to you. >> sure. patti ann: it's a race against time right now for survivors of that deadly fertilizer plant explosion and in minutes we'll speak with someone who is treating the dozens of people that are hurt. >> we need every ambulance we can this way. a bomb just went off inside of her. it is pretty bad. >> firefighters are down. there are firefighters down.
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bill: fox news alert now from the city of west, em. >> are you safe? are you okay? >> i can't hear. i can't hear. get out of here. please get out of here. >> oh, my god. >> please get out of here. please get out of here. oh, my god. bill: wow!.
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early estimates from police putting the death toll as high as 15 people. 160 more are injured. and the fire crews are at the facility trying to put out flames when it happened. some of them are among the missing. now we're hearing the urgent warning sent out in moments after that explosion. have a listen to this now. >> any fire unit that's near the fertilizer plant you need to pull back immediately. again any fire department that is still close to the fertilizer plant pull back. all units, if any of you are still near the hot zone, pull back cord the command center. any units near the rest home, you need to evacuate toward the command center. bill: what a night of living hell in that town. heather beck, a spokeswoman for the providence health care network which treated dozens of patients this morning and good morning to you there. what an awful night you just experienced. just so our viewers know the
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box in the small corner as we continue to follow the president's movements now on the ground here in boston. heather, what are the wounded saying and how extensive are the injuries that you're seeing at that medical center there? >> the wounded are obviously in shock and they're saddam hussein as to the events of last night. also west is such a close-knit community, they're very concerned for their family members and friends and loved ones. seems like everyone knows everyone else there. they're very worried about their community as a whole. bill: you're 25, 26 miles away in waco now. so you are seeing patients last night around what, 9:00 your time, 10:00 there? >> a little before 9:00. we saw a large influx of patients in between the hours of 9:00 and 2:00 a.m. after 2:00 a.m. the influx was not there any norm more. we didn't get many more patients after that. we are prepared to see more patients however should the need arise today. bill: you were about to say what the wounded came in
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for. what were they treated for and what was the extent of those injuries, heather? >> injuries very consistent with an explosion. things like lacerations, broken bones, head injuries, minor burns, respiratory distress, things like that. bill: yeah. what is the lingering effect, if you survive this physically from fertilizer blowing up literally in your face? >> that's a great question. i think it will be, there are a lot of variables. i can't speak to the long-term effects because i'm not a respiratory doctor or a respiratory therapist. we haven't gotten that information at this point. i can tell you of the 65 patients that we treated we have admitted 15 patients and only one was in critical condition and they have been upgraded to stable condition. so, they may not be as bad as we might think but i don't know for certain. bill: thank you so much. heather, thank you so much. heather beck, works in one of the medical facilities in waco, texas, which is about
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25 miles away. it wasn't just waco. it was dallas, it was all the communities around that part of the state there taking in patients throughout the night overnight last night. we're waiting on more information from in there. there's a briefing last hour. when there is another one we'll take you back there to texas. what a story it was breaking late last night in west, texas. back to the developments also here in boston. all those tiny bits of evidence recovered in the boston attack are so critical and so crucial. next we will talk to a forensic chemist about what these pieces can tell the investigators and where they take that mat err next. >> we're going to get the victims out. we'll then conduct a sweep to make sure there are no other devices on the street. we'll then get people out of the restaurants and bars. i need somebody up there to get on social media to let people know ♪ [ male announcer ] this is a stunning work of technology.
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bill: 30 minutes away from the service beginning here in boston. it will be emotional we know that and we will take you there live when it gets underway. in the meantime we are learning a bit more about the two bombs used in the attack on monday afternoon. investigators analyzing remnants of what they believe were pressure cookers packed with explosives. dr. adam hall is a former crime scene analyst for the massachusetts state prison and a forensic chemist. thanks for being with me and sharing your knowledge today. you put together this
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investigation, you're looking at some of the images that came out the other day, where do you start, how critical? >> there already numerous items of evidence that are collected. i would assume thousand of items of evidence that need to be collected and cat hrogz, packaged and da da catalogued, eventually transported to the f.b.i. for analysis. they have a particular section that is called the t-dac, it is the terrorist explosive device analytical center. they have highly trained individuals who have seen a lot of improvise eddie vices both domestically and internationally >> we saw images of balance bearings the other day. -- ball bearings the other day, maybe evidence of a circuit board. perhaps there was a zipper that purchase jived the bombing. how does that -- survived the bombing. how does that all fit together and where do you start on that?
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>> the ball bearings the significance of those really is the addition of shrapnel to a device. when the device explodes adds additional material which can travel through the air at a high rate of speed causing injury to individuals as well as physical destruction to inch and ta math objects. the use of electron cal components can be used in a variety of different ways to initiate a device and individuals will have to make a determination if those electronic components are related to the device, or if they are something that could have been associated with a victim's cellphone or other electronic components of that. bill: i wonder good there is one piece more critical than another. is there in. >> the focus would really be on the areas of greatest damage, and investigators would be particularly focused on the areas where the two devices went
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off. victims' clothing in particular would become very important. collecting as many possible pieces of the original device in an effort to later reconstruct that device, and to do some analytical work to determine the type of explosive filler that may have been used become very important. bill: just one more question. when you think about the string of cases involving the unabomber, when you think about 1995 and oklahoma city, you think about 1996, the olympic park bombing in atlanta, how good are we in finding an answer? >> the fbi and the t-dak center is a joint effort between the fbi and the atf and they have the opportunity to see many more types of these cases than a given city or state would see. and as a result they have quite a bit of experience in determining how devices are constructed, and how they function, and how to get some
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answers from their testing. bill: let's hope they get answers. and get it right too. thank you, doctor. dr. adam hall thank you from boston to us today. 25 minutes to go before the service. pack to patti ann. >> fox news confirming the battery used in the bomb is of significant interest in this investigation. our chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge joins us live from washington and other breaking developments for us. hello. >> reporter: thank you and good morning. left me layout what we've cop firmed this morning. fox news is told that the could the reused in one of the bomb is of investigative interest. while the manufacturer says it's extremely common that tens of thousands of sold every year at the batteries most often found in radio controlled toys. so rather than purchase a battery pack with a dozen able a or trip epl a batteries that could have been used as a power source they chose to go this extra step to purchase an item,
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withdraw the battery that is in it and use it as a power source, being able to identify the source of this item that contained the battery i was told will be important, potentially in identifying whether the circuit board which reconfirmed was recovered from the site was also purchased at the same location, pathee ann. >> social media i understand playing an interesting role in this investigation. >> reporter: in addition to the video and the still images and investigative source confirms to fox news that there is quote a significant social media footprint on the bombings providing new leads to investigators. more than 30,000 social media messages were collected within a one-mile radius of the finish line from 24 hours before to 24 hours after the exemploying. we were told that quote, twitter and facebook were lighting up after the attack and the social media generated what are called link analysis charts. they showed the relationships between the social media messages that met investigative
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criteria, asked what that meant fox news was told that investigative criteria included messages that seemed out of place or coded, and the result of this analysis were provided to the federal agencies heading up the investigation. >> catherine herridge live for us in washington thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. >> the manhunt is still on for the killer or killers behind those boston marathon bombings. coming up we'll speak with a reporter from the "boston herald." the latest new clues and possible confusion as authorities continue to ask for the public h-ps help. >> off-duty officers are requested to respond to your district. >> if you've got any further runners go along wilson and shut it down. there is no mass-produced human.
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allows you to adjust to the support your body needs. each of your bodies. it's part of the sleep number collection-innovations that individualize the way you sleep. from the perfect pillow ... to temperature-balancing bedding. and it's the only place you can save $400 on the only memory foam bed with sleep number technology that adjusts to each of you. plus special financing on all beds. you will only find sleep number at one of our over 400 stores nationwide, where queen mattresses start at just $699. sleep number. comfort. individualized. to find your store, visit sleepnumber.com.
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bill: 20 minutes away from the service beginning at the cathedral of the holy cross. gaf that service is getting underway. what you will see in a moment here, the president, the first lady, former governor mitt romney, cardinal shaun o'malley
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who heeds up the archdiocese of boston. you will also see some of the wounded from monday's bombing who are in attendance today, so we're waiting and watching on that in south boston. the cover of the "boston herald" is summing up the investigation today, marathon manhunt, drama, confusion, new clues. and the headline in bold at the bottom you see is called intense. dave wedge reporter for the "boston herald" was with us on tuesday of this week and we brought you back today to get a better sense of what you're reporting today. what do you have in. >> the latest we have is the u.s. attorney's office has told us this morning that there may release a video later on that may possible me include the suspects. there's been a lot of pictures out there and as you know that's been a lot of questions about whether or not these folks are suspects, but the fact is that the u.s. attorney's office is going over the videos now and hopefully we'll find out more in a little while. bill: that is a critical
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decision to makess spheg make especially when you see the confusion that rocked this town yesterday and nothing really came out. >> it makes it harder when there is so much uncertainty. people want answers who are hurting. there are wounded people, people who have died. we can't rush to judgment here. we saw what happened in 1996 with the atlanta olympics bombing, what can happen, richard jewel and how destructive that can be to someone's life. the last thing we need is to compound the trauma that the city is dealing with. >> there was a moment at the boston bruins game last night. that will be remembered forever in boston city history. you had 170500 people singing in unison the national anthem. >> it's a pretty amazing moment. that's boston. we are a strong people much like new york after 9/11 how they came together when the yankees rallied and went to the world series that year. that makes people feel better in moments of tragedy. the guy who sang the national
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anthem for the bruins is an icon in the city, a class act. >> he basically after eight seconds into the song he handed it over to the crowd there. it was extraordinary. the president is here today. what does it mean for the people to get the attention from the white house, to have this service at the ka nee the cathedral? >> i think it's very important. the president is our leader and politics should go out the window. it doesn't matter right now whether you're a republican or democrat. the president needs to lead us right now and the fact that he's here doing that is important to the city of boston just as george bush did after 9/11 and just as the president went down to newtown after those attacks. it helps the healing process to know we have the full support of the federal government behind us. >> behind you is the arlington street church, historic building here, and this is "america the beautiful" and the bells peeling behind us.
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♪ [music playing] ♪ ♪ bill: very nice touch. how do you go forward? >> i think the investigation has to move forward and once we get some answers i think that's when the healing will really begin, at least if we can find out -- we don't need to have someone convicted, right now we just need to know why this happened, we need to know if authorities have any idea why it happened. right now no one has those answers. as you said there's wounded people as a church right around the corner that their families are wondering why their loved ones have lost limbs. i think the healing begins when we start to find out why this happened. bill: you need to get the right answers too. i thought it was rather telling that the f.b.i. didn't come out and talk to us yesterday. and there is nothing on the schedule as of now for today. >> that's right. i agree with you. there was a 5:00 press conference scheduled originally. it was 1, then it was 4, then it was 5 and then it never happened at all. i think that was a smart move by the authorities. if they don't have anything to
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say, you know, there is no reason to come out and just say nothing, you know. we need some solid information, hopefully their focus is on finding that solid information rather than appeasing, you know, people that are wondering. they need to do their jobs right now. bill: thank you, dave. dave wedge from the "boston herald." >> thank you. bill: appreciate your reflections. thank you very much. we are about 14 minutes now before the hour and we'll get you to the cathedral in a moment here. also, jenna lee is standing bylaws "happening now" is going to roll your way at the too much the hour. you have a lot to cover today, jenna here in texas and good morning to you. what is coming up. >> reporter: good morning bill we are a few minutes away from the service you've been showing on your screen there an interfaith service honoring the victims of the boston terror attack. the president is set to speak. we'll take you there live when he does. the hraeuftess on the investigation as a search for suspects intensifies. will we hear from the f.b.i. today? we'll be talking to texas senator john cornyn about that horrific texas plant blast that
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has left more than 150 people injured, an unknown number dead, plus senator jeff flake on the gang of eight immigration plans and the defeat of gun control legislation. another busy day here on "happening now." we look forward to seeing you at the top of the hour. bill: all right. see you in about 13 minutes. jenna lee there in new york. there is breaking news from the hill. what the homeland security secretary is just saying about the investigation, and now starts the healing process for the people of boston. this is a hard thing to come back from for the families and survivors and witnesses, dr. keith ablow, he makes boston his home, he is our guest in a moment. >> make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this. and we will find out who did this. we'll find out why they did this. any responsible -- any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.
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bill: all right fox news alert now, we mentioned this right before the break. of the homeland security secretary nap already started -- judge andrew napolitan janet tpwha pal tan so talked about how the fbi wants to speak with two men seen in the video of the marathon on monday afternoon. she did not call them suspects. here is her comment ha moment ago from the hearing on the hill. >> we have been collecting video from a variety of sources as you might imagine at the finish line of the boston marathon there is lots and lots than video. there is some video that has raised the question of those that the f.b.i. would like to speak with. i wouldn't characterize them as suspects under the technical term, but we need the public's
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help in locating these individuals. >> janet napolitano from moments ago, that hearing is still ongoing. james clapper, head of the national intelligence unit is testifying in a senate committee, the dni, the director of national intelligence. if there is news from james clapper we'll pwhreu that to you as well. in the meantime we talk about a community here in boston, when we were in the commercial break here a group of healthcare assistant professionals from all across the country are in town in boston for a convention. they came to our location with the brave t-shirts on. they gathered to our left and made a memory here in boston. be brave is the message for boston today. in a moment we'll take you back into the cathedral of the holy cross. back to you. patti ann: we will be hearing from dr. keith ablow. we are moments away from the prayer service in boston. president obama has this fact
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arrived now at the cathedral. as we said a long, healing process ahead, and joining us we'll be getting momentarily to dr. keith ablow. again president obama will be attending this service. he is in fact there as we speak. it's an interfaith ceremony in honor of the three people who passed away as well as the many people who have injuries. mitt romney also seen there, theresa hines kerry, many other notables there, as well as just your ordinary boston residents coming together to pray for healing at this very difficult time for them. joining us now as we mentioned is dr. ablow a for repb repb sick psychiatrist and -- forensic psychiatrist and a member of the fox news medical a team. you also have a piece on foxnews.com addressing this very question. so what is your advice? dr. ablow can you hear me? it's patti ann brown.
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>> i can now, patti. >> patti ann: the question is what advice are you giving people for how to heel psychologically -- heal, psychhropbl i ca psychpsychologically as well as physically from this. >> it's stuff to go inside the mind of people who are suffering and injured. people are stories and they are able to put pages and chapters, even the most darkest and difficult ones into context, because we do below on, and gathering as groups, people who have survived and getting empathy from loved ones and counselors as needed these are the things that restore people. people really aren't alone in these times patti ann: we want to mention that on your screen you're also seeing president obama now arriving at that interfaith prayer service, and prayer, dr. ablow another component here. >> i'm sorry, pat tee ann, what was that?
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>> we are having difficulty hearing each other. talk being to other people and also praying are some of the things that people say would help them heal? that is absolutely true. you know, human beings are miraculous in this way. it's inexplicable. why should it be that when someone listens to you, listen to what seems to be unspeakable, tries to feel feelings that are almost impenetrable this heels people, it's the same if god-given energy that people channel when they pray. that is a true gift to people. >> you know, we were interviewing someone live earlier today who said, you know, between this and now this fertilizer plant explosion in texas there is a lot of tragedies, and he said, you know, it just remind us all how fragile we are and how precious life is. i think across america you have a lot of people feeling that
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tpra guil fragileness. how do we shake that off and go about living our lives. >> these events remind us in one way how fragile we are. on the other hand what they will tell us is our long story as a nation and our hives as people do no on, and that we have to be prepared for these insults to our freedoms, and if you look to our history you see that you can't bomb it away, you can't criticize it away, truths like freedom are enduring forever, and so is love. patti ann: dr. keith ablow >> people should be hugging their kids extra tight tonight patti ann: great advice. we will be hearing from the president shortly in boston. those lost and injured in the marathon bombing are being remembered [. ♪ [singing] stphoelt there is no mass-produced human.
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♪ there is no mass-produced every signature is unique and every fingerprint unrepeatable.
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and there is one store that recognizes it: the sleep number store. the only place in the world you'll find the extraordinarily comfortable sleep number bed: the only bed with dual-air technology that allows you to adjust to the support your body needs. each of your bodies. it's part of the sleep number collection-innovations that individualize the way you sleep. from the perfect pillow ... to temperature-balancing bedding. and it's the only place you can save $400 on the only memory foam bed with sleep number technology that adjusts to each of you. plus special financing on all beds. you will only find sleep number at one of our over 400 stores nationwide, where queen mattresses start at just $699. sleep number. comfort. individualized. to find your store, visit sleepnumber.com.
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bill: it will be another long day here in boston, full developments as we get them only here on the

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